Specific AmE term for chiefly BrE "workmate" other than "fellow worker", "coworker", and "colleague"

Question

Is there a close synonym in modern day AmE for what is referred to in BrE as a workmate?

Aside from being current, I wish I could get a term that is idiomatic with no space or hyphen, that would sit somewhere between "coworker" and "work pal" on the intimacy scale, and that would come right after "fellow worker" on the formality one.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/workmate

!http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Mate?s=t

Please consider this ngram source

Answer 1

Americans in general say:

• 'coworker' for someone they work with, no friendliness (or lack of friendliness) implied
• 'officemate' for someone you share an office with
• 'friend at work' for someone they get along well with at work. This isn't a set phrase. It is very literal meaning they are chummy at work but aren't necessarily friends outside of work.

'Workmate' is just not used in AmE.

Which is all to say I don't think there is an exact translation of 'workmate' to AmE. Of course, since I am not a BrE speaker, I'm not exactly sure of the nuances of 'workmate' other than it is somewhat foreign to me.